Middle East

Programs

The Hebron Stream Basin - Environmental as a Bridge Between Populations

The Hebron Stream, originating in the city of Hebron, is one of the few watersheds in the area that drains three distinct entities: the Palestinian Authority, the State of Israel and the Gaza Strip. For many years, the stream has polluted, endangering the environment as well as the residents living in proximity to it. Israelis and Palestinians, Arab Bedouin and Jews - all cope with the same situation.

We are working to transform an environmental hazard into an opportunity for cooperation between communities.We view the joint stream basin as a resource that demands environmental intervention as well as social and economic plans.

We will be able to rehabilitate the stream and its environs as well as advance the populations living in the basin through joint rehabilitative efforts and the creation of joint environmental, tourism, educational and economic initiatives.

We bring to this project our vast cross-border experience working with the partners in the Palestinian Authority, as well as experience in the management of complex community, economic and social projects that include both communities and municipal authorities.

Currently, we are mapping opportunities for collaboration in the Hebron Stream Basin and in the process of building partnerships and consulting with the communities in the region.

Partnership to Treat Electronic Waste

The vast majority of domestic electronic waste produced in Israel makes its way to the Palestinian villages in the southern end of the West Bank, close to the Green Line. Each day, more than 50 trucks filled with electronic waste cross from Israel into the Palestinian Authority. In these areas, the electronic waste is either burnt or dealt with in other unregulated ways in order to maximize the utility of its valuable raw materials. The resultant pollution, mostly caused by unregulated burning, affects the Palestinian residents of the area and the Israeli residents on both sides of the Green Line.

We work with civil society partners in the Palestinian Authority to solve this problem on three distinct levels:

The establishment of an educational environmental center for children and youth in the Palestinian villages

Assistance in the development of appropriate and environmentally friendly recycling solutions for electronic waste

Presentation of policy programs to the Israeli and Palestinian authorities regarding how to address this phenomenon

In addition to our partners in the Palestinian Authority, the Hiriyya Center for Environmental Education and Adam Teva V’din are advising the project.